“This book is the autobiography of his life as well as his mother’s. Ruth McBride, a Polish Jewish immigrant came to America with her father, Tateh, her mother, Mameh, her sister, Dee-Dee and her brother, Sam. In America, the family traveled around the country as his father looked for work as an unauthorized rabbi. Her father abused her when she was younger and cheated on her mother, even though everyone in the area knew of the affair. Tateh didn’t at all love Mameh, who had a bad back and could not stand up too long. Finally, they settled down in Suffolk, Virginia where they opened a small shop in the black part of town. There, Ruth had to work from sunup to sundown in the grocery store. She suffered so long and the other escape she could find was with her black boyfriend, Peter. He got her pregnant and as she began to gain weight. Mameh knew what was going on, so every summer, she sent Ruth to New York where her sisters lived. They weren’t particularly nice to her, but with the help of one of them, she got an abortion that she told no one. In the end, Ruth could no longer take the pressure, especially when she found out that her boyfriend had intercourse with his fiancé. She followed in the footsteps of her brother Sam, and left home, disowned by her family. She promised her sister Dee-Dee that she would be back to visit, but she never did. She converted to Christianity when she met Dennis in New York. They opened the New Brown Memorial Church. Together they had eight children. In the end, Dennis died of lung cancer, just as little James was about to be born. Next, she married Jordan and they had four children. He loved the eight children from Ruth’s previous marriage just as if they were his own. In raising her children, Ruth had always put education at the top of the list. She made her children go to the best schools even though most of the children and parents looked at her strangely for being a white mom of multi-racial children. All the while though, she never explained her past to her children or answered many racial questions her children had. James through all the chaotic events had walked on a wrong path of drugs and crimes. In the end, after learning from uneducated men from Kentucky, where her sister, Jack lived, he began to shape up and go to college. Each and every single one of Ruth’s children had successful careers and the future was once again bright.”